Continuous improvement of care to reduce error and protect people from avoidable harm

STOP: don’t rush inTHINK: weigh up the risk, benefits and optionsLISTEN: hear the views of others

CWP is a high performing organisation doing well in all sorts of external benchmarking. We recognise that the only way to stay high performing is to improve quality on a continuous basis.

The CWP Zero Harm campaign was set up in 2014 to encourage, facilitate, support and promote quality improvement. Whether done by individuals, teams, services or as a Trust.

It relies upon the 6Cs and ‘no decision about me without me’ as underpinning principles and so is an open and co-produced approach to quality improvement. We know that person to person interactions are key and so invested in training in things like ‘human factors’ as well as collaborating with multiple partners and being part of the AQUA network. This has improved the confidence and skills of people in delivering quality improvement.

What are ‘human factors?’ We know that people are unique and by no means perfect, so we accept that people are ‘human’ and look to understand how we can improve our systems and processes to support people to minimise risk and chances of error.

The commitment to promoting a ‘Zero Harm’ culture has been highlighted as a key priority by CWP in the Operational Plan 2016/17 with the ultimate aim to deliver safe, quality care.

Our priorities for quality care:

Patient safety

Clinical effectiveness

Patient experience.

Dr Ian Davidson Expert Clinical Champion for Zero Harm said: “I am delighted and continually amazed when going out to talk to teams and services by their commitment and ingenuity in finding ways to learn and improve.”

Dr Anushta Sivananthan, Medical Director for Quality and Assurance, says: “I urge everyone, no matter your role to report the negative, share the positive and to iron out variation so that we can achieve consistent standards and make sure people experience the same level of care. Really listening to others as well as your own gut feelings and instincts is so important to keeping the interests of the person you are supporting at the centre of decisions.”